Active Mom Podcast: Pregnancy, Postpartum, Perimenopause, Menopause & Beyond
Welcome to the Active Mom Podcast—where motherhood meets movement, health, and evidence-based insights!
Whether you’re an active mom navigating pregnancy, postpartum recovery, or the challenges of peri/menopause, or a professional supporting women through these stages, this podcast is for you.
Join host Dr. Carrie Pagliano, a pelvic floor physical therapist, as she bridges the gap between research and real life.
Hear from leading experts, researchers, and active moms as we explore everything from running during pregnancy to managing pelvic organ prolapse, diastasis recti, incontinence, and the rabbit hole of hormone shifts heading into peri & menopause!
Moms, gain practical tips to stay strong, active, and confident through every phase.
Professionals, sharpen your knowledge with actionable takeaways to better serve your clients.
🎙️ Honest conversations, expert advice, practical takeaways, and lots of laughs—it’s the whole wild ride of motherhood!
Active Mom Podcast: Pregnancy, Postpartum, Perimenopause, Menopause & Beyond
DR. BROOKE WINDER -Pelvic Health and Hypermobility
In this episode of the Active Mom Podcast, I’m joined by Dr. Brooke Winder, physical therapist and Associate Professor at California State University Long Beach, where she leads the Dance Science program and mentors young dancers on optimizing their health, performance, and injury prevention.
Brooke specializes in supporting artistic athletes—including dancers, aerialists, and circus performers—through orthopedic rehabilitation, pelvic floor physical therapy, and hypermobility management.
We dive into her research on pelvic floor function in performing artists, explore the unique physical demands of dance, aerial work, and circus arts, and unpack how hypermobility, high-tone pelvic floors, and systemic conditions like POTS and MCAS intersect in this population.
Brooke also shares strategies for pregnancy and postpartum recovery in hypermobile bodies, plus how to stay strong, stable, and resilient across every stage of life—from peak performance years to parenting and beyond.
In this episode, we cover:
🔹 Systemic issues linked to hypermobility
🔹 Building support and stability at end ranges of motion
🔹 Pelvic floor challenges unique to dancers and circus artists
🔹 Strategies to manage a high-tone pelvic floor
🔹 Staying active and mobile through all stages of life
Whether you’re a performing artist, a former dancer or gymnast, or a mom navigating postpartum recovery, this conversation will give you the tools and insights to make your flexibility work for you—not against you.
Time Stamps
1:00 Introduction
6:04 hypermobility in the dance community
9:00 mobility after dance
13:10 the pelvic floor and dance
27:06 circus performers and aerialists
30:32 hypermobility explained
34:38 POTS and MCAS
42:06 neurodivergence and hypermobility
46:08 dancers in pregnancy and postpartum
50:48 looking at a survey study
60:28 rapid fire questions
CONNECT WITH CARRIE
IG: https://www.instagram.com/carriepagliano/
Website: https://carriepagliano.com
CONNECT WITH BROOKE:
Website: www.renewmotionpt.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/drbrookewinderpt/
The Active Mom Podcast is A Real Moms' Guide to pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause & beyond for active moms & the professionals who help them in their journey.
This show has been a long time in the making!
You can expect conversation with moms and professionals from all aspects of the industry.
If you're like me, you don't have a lot of free time (heck, you're probably listening at 1.5x speed), so theses interviews will be quick hits to get your the pertinent information FAST!
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